The Lost Tales of Oz

Joe Bongiorno's Royal Publisher of Oz has a new book out, illustrated by eminent Oz illustrator Eric Shanower. Instead of a single Oz story, it presents seventeen stories by thirteen writers.

I'm one of the writers who contributed to the anthology and thus have some insight into the creation. Each writer was solicited for a story that didn't necessarily have to stick to traditional Oz themes. It didn't need to be “safe for kids,” Joe encouraging us to think of stories that wouldn't be in traditional Oz books. I chronicled the creation of my contribution in one of the appendices.

The book features a framing sequence in which Dorothy, Trot and Betsy Bobbin look through some of the stories that appear in the Royal Library. You could interpret this that not all of the stories are “true,” but the book goes on to consider them so.

Joe runs The Royal Timeline of Oz website and as can be expected, has a big focus on continuity. When he edited the stories, it would sometimes mean that he would add notes to continuity. He might also add other things as well.

The first story is The Great and Terrible Oz Mystery by Michael O. Riley in which Ojo spots some suspicious behavior of the Wizard around the Palace. With some information from Jellia and help from his friends, it's up to Ojo to solve the mystery.

Next is The Witch's Mother of Oz by Paul Dana. This midquel takes place during the final chapters of The Marvelous Land of Oz, introducing the mother of none other than Mombi, who approaches her, revealing some secrets from her past.

The Trade: A Langwidere Story by Mike Conway features a young woman offering her head to Ev's mysterious dignitary. The response reveals that there may be a bit more to explore about the head-swapping princess.

Ojo and the Woozy is J.L. Bell's attempt to create another “Little Wizard Story,” focused on the titular characters. As Ojo meets some new friends, he runs into a situation that the Woozy might be quite suited to handle.

Nathan DeHoff makes the first of three contributions in The Other Searches For The Lost Princess. Taking place during The Lost Princess of Oz, these three short stories follow the other three groups who didn't find Ozma: the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman; Shaggy Man, his brother, Tik-Tok and Jack Pumpkinhead; and Ojo, Unc Nunkie and Dr. Pipt. This one is chock full of puns and Easter Eggs for fans of the Oz series and its adaptations.

Next up is Chop by Eric Shanower. Originally written for an Ozzy horror anthology, it tells how Button-Bright came across the home of Chopfyt and Nimmee Aimee. But this was never a happy home, and it hasn't become any happier... It's probably the darkest story in the collection.

Following is In Flesh Of Burnished Tin by Jeffery Rester, a short piece depicting the relationship of Nimmee Aimee and the Wicked Witch of the East.

David Tai's Diplomatic Immunity comes next, revealing Trot and Betsy investigating an island that has descended on Oz from the sky. It is—in fact—Sky Island, and as Trot is the ruler she has to make the choice whether to enforce Ozma's rule or help her people.

The late M.A. Berg offers The Scrap Bag Circus of Oz, in which Scraps comes across a small circus of plush people and animals, who it turns out where made from the cloths that were also used in the crazy quilt that made up Scraps' body.

Following this is a pair of stories by the late Sam Sackett with Joe helping out. In The Wizard in New York, the Wizard goes to check out the 1939 World's Fair. It's not a majorly eventful story, mostly the Wizard reacting to the state of the world he left behind several years before, including going to see MGM's The Wizard of Oz. But he does pick up a stray cat he names Ali, who features in Ali Cat in Oz, which follows the adventures of the Wizard's new pet cat as it travels through the palace, then the Ozian countryside.

Joe then presents an unusual Oz story in Lurline and the Talking Animals of Oz, which follows the diaries of a resident of Oz who lived through Oz becoming a fairyland and animals beginning to talk and asserting their own place in Oz. It further addresses how Lurline had to intervene to maintain the peace.

Then comes the story from yours truly: Tommy Kwikstep and the Magpie. Journeying to a Gillikin village with Corina the Magpie, Tommy Kwikstep discovers what became of the Good Witch of the North before making a new acquaintance in Perry, the son of the ex-General Jinjur. It's very much a story about relationships, from the families we are born into to the ones we choose.

Up next is Nathan DeHoff's Ozma and the Orange Ogres of Oz, which follows the conquest of the Emerald City of a group of orange ogres and how it was resolved. If you thought it might be a timely political allegory, Nathan actually wrote it over two decades ago and it was revised heavily by Joe for publication.

Marcus Mebes offers Quiet Victory which reveals how Victor Columbia Edison, the talking phonograph, came to live with Allegro De Capo, the Musicker. Perhaps these two were made for each other.

Nathan's final offering in the collection is Vaneeda in Oz, which I admit I had a hand in. Not a big one, but I told Nathan that as I'd written a story featuring Jinjur's son—who was a twin—perhaps he might write a story featuring the other one, Winnie. (As they're Munchkin-born, their names are similar to perriwinkle, a blue flower.) Anyway, Winnie and her friends Henrietta and Paella the Cookywitch decide to investigate the claim that Vaneeda, daughter of the Wicked Witch of the East (name and identity suggested by a never completed story by Ruth Plumly Thompson), has turned the Munchkin Royal Family into glass.

The final story is The Puppet-Mistress of Oz by Andrew Heller. As Dorothy relates her first adventure in Oz, Trot begins to think some things added up too well. Suspicions are raised and questions are answered. And if you've thought about Oz history, it's exactly who you think it is.

Each story is introduced by an opening page that features an introduction written in character by Dorothy, Trot or Betsy. A small illustration by Eric Shanower also tops this page. With the exception of The Trade, there's two illustrations by Eric per story: the small one on the introductory page and a full page illustration. It's all right for some stories, but this means many characters will only be seen in your imagination.



What a lot of Oz fans love about Shanower's artwork is that it's finely detailed and drafted. His human characters look human, and the characters of Oz are designed after John R. Neill's illustrations. He also adds well-proportioned design work to scenery and animals and other creatures so it adds a believable look to the world of Oz, even when completely unreal creatures such as the Woozy are being depicted. I had to admit, I only had a determined visual for Corina when it came to creating my story as she is a Sri Lanka Blue Magpie, also known as a Ceylon Magpie, specifically. Perry I had decided to let the illustrator handle. While Eric did draw Perry and I was pleased with it, what impressed me was that he drew a lot of birds I'd described in the story. That I was not expecting at all!

The book also features notes on the stories that tell how they came to be written, as well as continuity notes by Joe, and then biographies of the authors are given. Mine sadly dated quickly as it mentions that I live with my two cats when that's no longer the case. But I don't think I'll request it to be revised.

The book is laid out in classic Oz book style with the text set in the Schoolbook font with the title of the book being at the top of left hand pages over a line with the title of the chapter being on the right hand page over another line.

With the exception of Chop and moments in Lurline and the Talking Animals, most of these stories fit the traditional Oz style of being fun adventures for all ages with some strange twists. The Oz stories have always toed that line between whimsical and macabre, though. One might want to be a little wary about giving this one to children without some supervision, though. Literature provides a good way for readers to learn about certain concepts, but in the form of fantasy and fiction, it might be best to discuss these stories with young readers.

Shanowerthon! Closing

Eric Shanower at the
2013 Winkie Convention

In the past several blogs in this series (though we did take an almost two-year break), I've looked at Eric Shanower's work for Oz, focusing on his new Oz stories. (To see them all, click on the "Eric Shanower" tag at the end of this blog or in the tag list over to the right.)

However, Eric has had one of the most insane careers for any modern Oz writer/artist. In addition to the illustration jobs I've mentioned, he's also produced a lot of artwork for the International Wizard of Oz Club to use for Christmas Cards and the like, as well as programs for many Oz events and conventions. The 2011 and 2013 program books for the Winkie Convention had new Shanower artwork for their front covers.

In 2008, Marvel Comics began their series of Oz adaptations with Eric on board as writer, faithfully adapting Baum's text and giving instruction to artist Skottie Young as to what is going on in each panel. When Eric was aware that Baum had expanded on his stories later (excerpts from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz appeared in L. Frank Baum's Juvenile Speaker with some rewriting, including bits of new dialogue), he wove them into the original story seamlessly. Dialogue from Baum's own adaptations of his works help fill the background in The Marvelous Land of Oz, and The Road to Oz even has a cheeky quote from the MGM film The Wizard of Oz rushed in. (When I noted it to Eric, he told me it was added after he'd seen Skottie's art.) The most notable change Eric made was slightly restructuring Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz to avoid the highly criticized deus ex machina. It is almost as if Eric gives Baum the writer's position and just serves as editor. Currently, a more or less compressed five-issue adaptation of The Emerald City of Oz is being printed by Marvel. It may or may not be the last of the Marvel adaptations.

After becoming the new publisher for his Oz graphic novels, IDW wisely got Eric to provide cover art for their comic book miniseries that served as a prequel for what was then the Dorothy of Oz movie and is now the yet-to-be released Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return. The fact that this re-branding happened should be no slight to IDW or Eric.

Eric has also written several articles about Oz, his work in Oz, and given many presentations at Oz events over the years. He has an informative introduction in the Hungry Tiger Press editions of The Flying Girl and Her Chum. I could go on and on about Eric's work, but he's listed it all on his website in his complete list of credits.

About ten years ago, I remarked to my father that I had met Roger S. Baum (not one of my favorite Oz writers) and wondered if I might ever meet other writers of Oz stories, "like Eric Shanower." He replied that I would probably have to go to where they were. Well, less than ten years afterward, I got to meet Eric at the 2011 Winkie Convention. (I had attended the 2010 convention, but it had coincided with the San Diego Comic Con, and Eric and David Maxine had gone there instead.) I would say that we're friends now. Back when I was modifying Doctor Who action figures into Oz characters, I made one of Flicker and sent it to Eric. He thanked me and let me know that Flicker is part of his Oz collection now. (Given Flicker's tiny size at the end of Ice King, he joked that I'd started doing life size Oz figures.)

In counting Eric's original Oz stories (not including poems but including the short comic stories and the very short "The Two Peters"), the count comes to twenty-two. There are his five graphic novels, one prose novel, five short comic stories (only one of which is also drawn by him), and eleven short stories, several of which have been collected into a book. And don't forget that he's illustrated stories by all of the Royal Historians, including Oz books by Baum, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Eloise McGraw, and even polishing John R. Neill's last Oz book for publication.

I'm not alone in saying that I'd like to see new Oz stories by Eric, and surely I'd like to see sequels or follow-ups to The Blue Witch of Oz and "Abby," but Eric has said that he doesn't really have the drive to do such an Oz story at the moment. Perhaps one day he will. But if he doesn't, I've decided that considering the body of Oz work he's already done, we should be happy with what we do have.

So, to Eric and his wonderful Oz work over the many years, I'd like to say a big "Thank you!"

Shanowerthon! Trot of Oz

Oz-Story 6 contained a long Oz story by Eric Shanower and San Francisco poet Glenn Ingersoll. The editor's notes by David Maxine explain the story's origins:

In 1982, Glenn Ingersoll and Eric Shanower began writing Trot of Oz, a new "Trot and Cap'n Bill" book. Glenn wrote the first chapter, Eric the second, Glenn the third and so on. They would only set two rules: each chapter would end with a cliffhanger, and there would be no stupid little countries. There was no outline, no discussion, the story simply came to life. It is incredibly seamless considering how it was written. The characterizations are true and consistent, and the pace is fast and addictive. So join tiny Trot and the Cap'n as they discover the secret of the Multiplying Overcoat. Eric Shanower has supplied illustration more than a decade since the story was completed in 1988.

The story finds Trot and Cap'n Bill boating on Lake Quad, when they are surprised by the sea monster Quaddle, who tells them that a group of people underwater need a champion, so he takes Trot and Cap'n Bill to find them.

What they find is a country of mushroom people (not the same type as in "Dorothy and the Mushroom Queen," if they are related at all, these are definitely another race). A recent lakequake has destroyed their Shroom City. The Shroom people need to start rebuilding, but the despot imprisons Trot and Cap'n Bill as Quaddle runs away, being easily distracted.

A wicked Shroom named Rottug switches Cap'n Bill's body with a stel's (a different type of mushroom people), then switches himself into Cap'n Bill's body so he can use five fingers to take the Multiplying Overcoat, an object which is sacred to the Shroom people, though some don't believe in it anymore. Soon, an army of Cap'n Bills swarms over the ruined city, conquering what's left of it. Trot and two Shrooms named Musharoo and Shruvm escape to the Land of the Multiplying Overcoat where they learn what they must do in an all or nothing attempt to defeat Rottug, which will mean many endings for the Shrooms and Shroom City, but new beginnings as well.

So, can Trot and her Shroom friends defeat Rottug? Will Cap'n Bill get his body back? Will Quaddle stop running around?

I agree with David on the story's consistency. It barely feels as if it is two writers switching between chapters, though once you have that in mind, you can spot where they drop challenges for each other. Also, yes, Trot and Cap'n Bill (the only traditional Oz characters in the story) are excellently in character. The pace is indeed exciting and the reader will be loathe to put it down if they need to stop reading to attend to another matter.

So, congratulations to Glenn and Eric on this collaborative effort. It is quite well done. Perhaps one day it will be reprinted in book form. Until then, it's one of the many things worth tracking down Oz-Story 6 for.

Well, we're about at the end of the Shanowerthon here. But we're not quite done yet!

Shanowerthon! Eric's Oz-Stories, Part 3

After Oz-Story 2, it seems the submissions took off, because in the remaining four issues, only one new prose story was written by Eric Shanower. (Oz-Story 6 had a previously unpublished novel-length Oz story that he co-wrote, but that will be the topic of the next blog.)

Oz-Story 3 had the debut of Edward Einhorn's Oz stories with "Ozma Sees Herself," which Eric illustrated, depicting the first time Ozma met the Cowardly Lion and later the Hungry Tiger.

Eric also provided a poem about the Glass Cat in this issue, and writing for three short comic stories, as well as his work on The Wonderland of Oz. He also illustrated two stories by Royal Historians: Rachel Cosgrove Payes' "Spots in Oz" and L. Frank Baum's The Flying Girl. (These illustrations were reused when Hungry Tiger Press reprinted the book as a standalone hardcover.)

The first of the comic stories was "Tiger's Delight," in which the Hungry Tiger and the Cowardly Lion are journeying Oz when they come to the Nursemaid Mountains, finding the Valley of the Marshmallow Babies. Surely the Hungry Tiger can finally eat a fat baby here, right? (I can't help but wonder if this was inspired by Baum's mention to his publishers of the Marshmallow Twins, some never-realized Oz characters.) The art for this two-pager was Karl Waller.

The next comic story is a one-pager and is drawn by Eric himself! It was reprinted in the hardcover Adventures in Oz collection, and is titled "Jinnicky Jarred." A couple birds observe Jinnicky in his gardens, enjoying himself before they finally fly away. It's a fun tribute to one of Thompson's most iconic, bizarre and lovable characters.

The final comic story is another one-pager drawn by Ramona Fradon. Titled "Poppies," Ozma explains to Dorothy why she wears her iconic poppies before Dorothy has a memory that makes Ozma say a very odd thing that could easily change everything we know about Oz.

On to Oz-Story 4! The back cover (not shown) here is by Eric, showing a picture of Ozma, which was seen again in the Adventures in Oz collection. (I believe both paperback and hardcover, but I've never seen the paperback edition.)

This contains Eric's new prose story, "The Salt Sorcerer of Oz," which is unique in his Oz writing for being something aside from a one-page comic to not contain any Baum-created Oz characters. The only Oz character from the Famous Forty in the story is Kabumpo.

Kabumpo is journeying from Sun Top Mountain back to Pumperdink when he is suddenly pulled toward a man made of metal named Clank, the servant of Aa the Salt Sorcerer. They seek Kabumpo's help in discovering the strange rains that have been coming down far too often lately from Cork Mountain. Being joined by a green bear called Fardels, they are captured by Geyser Gremlins, who take them inside the mountain, where they meet the ruler, the stony Magnificent Zyzzwyzz. Will Zyzzwyzz help them out, or will they have to help themselves? And what exactly is Cork Mountain corking?

Although Eric mentioned that Ruth Plumly Thompson isn't quite responsible for his favorite Oz material, I can't help but see "Salt Sorcerer" as his tribute to her. It is a lot like a Thompson story, but the more streamlined, focused approach is 100% Shanower.

As you can assume, "Salt Sorcerer" is the main feature of The Salt Sorcerer of Oz and Other Stories, which also contained Eric's poems from Oz-Story as well as art and poems that appeared on exclusive art cards that came with copies of Oz-Story purchased from Bud Plant Comic Art. (I had a complete set of these, but many were lost after a move. If I have any left, they're in storage.)

Eric again illustrates the L. Frank Baum novel, Daughters of Destiny (and yes, his art was reused in their hardcover edition), and another story by another Royal Historian, "Pajamas the Sleepyhead Elf" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw, her first published story. He also provides an elaborate illustration for Thompson's short story "The Green Camel."

And now for comic work! Eric teamed up with Anna-Maria Cool again to present an adaptation of "The Wizard of Pumperdink," a Ruth Plumly Thompson story about a wicked Wizard who wants to get rid of his tell-tale beard by seeking the help of a Witch who has a trick up her sleeve!

Eric again provided the back cover for Oz-Story 5, which was a picture of Singra, Rachel Cosgrove Payes' titular The Wicked Witch of Oz from her 1990s Oz novel. The issue was dedicated to her memory, since she had recently passed away. I believe both this image and a dedication page inside were originally color plates for a very limited edition that book. (Which I don't own.)

Eric adapted another Thompson story for comics in this issue, "The First Brown-Haired Princess," drawn by Trina Robbins. It tells how a princess was born with brown hair instead of golden blonde, and how she was forced to hide it under a veil before deciding to remove it while meeting a prince, a bold act that helped the prince notice her.

Eric's other work in Oz-Story 5 is completely illustration: Edward Einhorn's "Unauthorized Magic," Michael Riley's "The Ruby Heart," Jack Snow's "The Magic Sled," John Bell's "Jack Pumpkinhead's Day in Court," and of course the first chapter of Einhorn's Paradox in Oz, which was printed at the end as a preview for the upcoming novel.

I mentioned that Oz-Story 6 had a novel-length story co-written by Eric, but that I would focus on that in my next blog. So, I shall look at his other work in that issue.

The major piece of work here is Eric's illustrations for Eloise Jarvis McGraw's third and final Oz book, The Rundelstone of Oz, which made its debut in this issue before being reissued on its own in a hardcover edition the next year. (The hardcover contained new exclusive artwork for that edition, so to get the entire Rundelstone experience, that edition is highly recommended.)

Eric illustrated for three other Royal Historians in this issue as well. He illustrated Jack Snow's "Princess Chrystal and Prince Eolus," Rachel Cosgrove Payes' "Rocket Trip to Oz" (the original first chapter of The Hidden Valley of Oz), and provided decorations for L. Frank Baum's Annabel, which, yes, were reused when Hungry Tiger Press reissued the book as a hardcover.

Finally, Eric adapts another Ruth Plumly Thompson story "The Mermaid's Necklace" for comics, drawn by Steve Lieber. This story spans six pages. It is against the law of the mermaids to lose their necklaces or else they will be strapped to rocks and left to die. But Niedra loves to slip away to the beach to observe humans, but on one occasion, she is surprised by a human man who takes her necklace. It is up to Prince Beryl to try to do what he can to recover it or else his love will die.

Well, aside from our last excursion to Eric's work for Oz-Story that I'll save for next time, I feel compelled to remind my readers that there was so much more to Oz-Story than what I've noted in these blogs. There were many other stories, poems and comics that Eric did not work on, but all still enjoyable for any Oz fan.

David Maxine has mentioned that he has a few copies of some issues left, so few that he doesn't have them listed in his online store. If you're interested, contact him to see what he has. If he can't help you out, take a look at used book sites and see what turns up, but remember that Oz-Story is out of print, and is very unlikely to ever be reissued, so what the seller asks for it may well be justified. We may see more of the materials from it reprinted in the future (I know David would like to make Rachel Cosgrove Payes' final Oz stories available for all), but not in the same format.

Shanowerthon! Eric's Oz-Stories, Part 2

 The second annual issue of Oz-Story Magazine brought four new stories by Eric Shanower. However, two were not prose stories. Oz-Story presented many new Oz stories in comic form as well as prose, and in some cases, Eric wrote a very short one or two-page story and a guest artist would do the art.

As said, Oz-Story 2 contained two such stories. The first, "The Greed Goblin of Oz," was drawn by Anna Maria Cool. At two pages, there isn't much to say except: the Scarecrow and Sawhorse rescue the Greed Goblin, who offers to grant them one wish each with one catch: the wish must benefit only them. What will they wish for?

The other story, "Skin Deep," was drawn by Archie Comics writer and artist Dan Parent. A young man visits Ozma's court with a bag over his head to protest a terrible enchantment that has been cast on him. He removes the bag revealing a very charming face underneath. What is his problem? Perhaps Dorothy won't like the resolution...

Being shorts, neither story is exactly a major piece of Oz writing, but they are fun just the same.

The first prose story is "Dorothy and the Mushroom Queen," accredited to pseudonym Janet Deschman. It re-appeared in The Salt Sorcerer of Oz and Other Stories under Shanower's name. Bungle, Dorothy and Flicker (making a prose reappearance from The Ice King of Oz) enter the underground, mysterious, beautiful, but very disturbing world of Ma-dul-ma-dun, ruled by Queen Piopelp, who cares only for beauty and loyalty from others to herself. Among Dorothy and her friends, she only finds Bungle worthy of any attention. While touring this world, Dorothy discovers many wonderful and disturbing things, but she fears that she may starve to death, and is not sure that Piopelp will let her leave!

This story follows in the vein of Giant Garden and "Gugu and the Kalidahs." Again, Shanower manages to remain true to Baum's creation while at the same time being dark and sometimes scary. In fact, this story even has a bit of a suspenseful ending!

The final new story is one of my favorite pieces of Oz fiction ever. "Abby" serves as a type of sequel to Jack Snow's The Shaggy Man of Oz. I won't say too much here so I don't spoil it for whoever hasn't read it yet, but I do want to talk about it at length, so I'll finish looking at the entire issue, then go back to "Abby." You were warned.

The titular Abby is the adult Twink from Shaggy Man, and one night, she gets an urgent phone call from her brother Tom, who is at their childhood home in Buffalo. Urging her to come and bring along their copy of The Shaggy Man of Oz, Tom has discovered that the projection television set their father invented is still working, and it's showing what appears to be Conjo's Island again. But Abby can't just swish off to fairyland. There are still things from Abby's past that she needs to resolve: her relationships with her now-deceased parents, her relationship with Tom, and even identifying as the heroine of a certain Oz book.

What makes "Abby" work is not the fantasy, but how human it feels. It beautifully tackles the question of what it'd be like to be a kid who went to Oz and never went back. Every time I read it—even before I read The Shaggy Man of Oz—I was struck by how human the characters of Tom and Twink were reinterpreted by Shanower. After I read the book, that appreciation was even better, given how flat Snow had originally written the characters of Tom and Twink. Shanower had to do a lot of invention, and once again, it all works within Baum's universe, though none of it takes place in Oz or fairyland at all.

Sadly, "Abby" has not been reprinted. The story is a very different tone from what was in The Salt Sorcerer of Oz and Other Stories. Hopefully, one day, it will be made available again.

Before I jump into my major fan-boying about "Abby," I had better mention the non-story work Shanower did on Oz-Story 2. Aside from the art director duties, he provided the back cover, which also served as a contest: "If Six Great Cartoonists Had Drawn Oz Comics!" Readers were invited to send the answers in to Oz story. Here we see Eric emulate the distinct style of six very different cartoonists.

I was considering having a new contest, but have decided against it in the end. The answers were revealed in Oz-Story 3, the winner being Don Vanni, who got a free copy of that next issue.

The artists are 1) Winsor McCay (based on his work in Little Nemo's Slumberland), 2) Harold Gray (based on Little Orphan Annie), 3) Carl Barks (based on his famous Disney Duck comics), 4) Jack Kirby (because it's Jack Kirby!), 5) Robert Crumb, and 6) Jaime Hernandez (based on his work in Love and Rockets).

This back cover is so great that it's alone worth tracking down a copy from a used book site!

---

And now to further commentary about "Abby."

While Abby is the main focus of the story, when the story was released, a lot of reader backlash sprung up over how Shanower reinterpreted the character of Tom in 1977. Without using the terms "gay" or "homosexual," the story revealed that Tom had just ended a seven-year relationship with his "lover" Michael. Some readers were upset that Eric had taken a pre-existing character and had made what they perceived to be a big change.

Eric's creative choice is justified. One, Jack Snow was gay, and like Jack Snow, the story finds Tom alone and without work. Second, Eric himself is gay. And third, what we know about sexual orientation today should let us know that this really shouldn't be a big thing. The story would have gone the exact same way if Eric had written about Tom's ex-girlfriend Michelle instead. The issue that the character was gay was quite blown out of proportion.

"Abby" was the first story I'd read that featured an openly gay character. At the time, the only other thing I'd read about homosexuality was an article in Charisma magazine that I found in our church's office. I remember reading it quite intently, and that it was the only article I read in it. Today, I also identify as a gay man and know that article was chock-full of misinformation about homosexuality, much of which popped up again recently in same-sex marriage debates. These two pieces of literature were quite at odds with each other. As it turned out, perhaps that article contained more fiction than "Abby.

"Abby" ends with Tom packing up and heading through the image projected by the television set onto Conjo's Island. Abby stays behind, deciding that she'll do a much better job of reconciling her life with her experience in Oz with her husband and children. The last thing Abby sees of Tom is Tom writing that Conjo has entered a vegetative state and he and Twiffle will be trying to leave the island for help.

So, now, what I want to know is what happened to Tom next? Furthermore, I'd love an entire Oz book written like this: a mature, adult approach to the world Baum created that doesn't need to do a dark revision. Perhaps, if Eric ever decides to write such a story, "Abby" could be included as a prelude.

Shanowerthon! Eric's Oz-Stories, Part 1

Back when we interviewed David Maxine for the podcast, he revealed that Oz-Story Magazine was the realization of a concept he had for Oziana, which the Oz Club turned down. Perhaps it was a good idea for the Club to keep Oziana as it always was, but I can't help but think that more Oz-Story would have been wonderful. New and old Oz and Oz-related stories, poems, comics, and a reprint of an L. Frank Baum book to top it off. (Perhaps if this concept had been adopted for Oziana or if Oz-Story had kept going, it would have expanded to books by Ruth Plumly Thompson and the other Royal Historians.) It ran for only six issues, and since David and his partner Eric Shanower were working on it together, every issue contained new work by Eric in some form, whether it was illustration, writing, or adapting The Wonderland of Oz comic strip into an easy-to-read format. In these blogs, we'll focus on his new writing.

Oz-Story 1 contained three new pieces of writing by Eric. "Gugu and the Kalidahs" is perhaps one of Eric's best short stories. When King Gugu discovers that Kalidahs have invaded the forest, he must investigate and set all to rights. He discovers the Kalidah renegade Bladgaar in his forest. Can Gugu, his councilors, and the animals of the forest drive out the Kalidah invaders?

Perhaps being reminded of Rudyard Kipling is inevitable, considering we're following talking animals in a natural habitat. Still, such a comparison is not an insult. Like Giant Garden, the execution of the story is well thought out and quite logical. It even feels a little dark and gritty, but still done in a way that doesn't betray Baum's creation.

Shanower's other story might be a surprise unless you're familiar with the book The Salt Sorcerer of Oz and Other Stories. "The Balloon Girl of Oz" was published in Oz-Story attributed to Stephen Kane, an aerospace engineer in Los Angeles. There is no mention of him in the Salt Sorcerer book, leading us to see that Kane was a pseudonym. I have wondered as to this, but I think I've determined the answer: just starting out, Oz-Story did not want to present itself as a new Eric Shanower endeavor with other stories mixed in, so keeping the number of items with Eric's name on them low would hopefully keep other stories coming in.

"The Balloon Girl of Oz" finds Scraps exploring the countryside of Oz when she finds some pretty blue crystals. She decides to take them to the Emerald City with her, when they break and inflate her like a balloon. (They were used to inflate sagging clouds.) Barely able to keep herself on the ground, Scraps has to use all her brains to reach the Emerald City for help. It's a fun story with a nice little lesson at the end.

The final new piece of Eric's writing in Oz-Story is the poem "Parts Unavailable," musing about how one of the best things about Oz is probably its lack of faulty technology.

Both stories and the poem are all reprinted in The Salt Sorcerer of Oz and Other Stories, but if you look around, you can also find Oz-Story 1 (and the other issues) on used book sites.

In addition, Eric also provided the front cover for Oz-Story 1, illustrated Rachel Cosgrove Payes' "Percy and the Shrinking Violets," wrote new dialogue and provided art adaptation for the first half of The Wonderland of Oz adaptation of The Marvelous Land of Oz (the remaining issues would present similar new versions of Ozma of Oz and The Emerald City of Oz, split into one half per issue), and served as Art Director for this and the subsequent five issues.

Come back next time as we look at Eric's work in Oz-Story 2.

Shanowerthon! — The Giant Garden of Oz

Way back when I was re-reading the Oz books in the early 2000s (how the time has flown!), I put all of L. Frank Baum's Oz books on hold at the library, and also asked about any titles by Eric Shanower, fondly remembering his Oz graphic novels.

I remember calling them by phone (some of the librarians could identify me by the sound of my voice), and they listed the five graphic novels and a book called The Giant Garden of Oz. At this time, I didn't know Eric had done anything with Oz outside of the graphic novels, so I assumed it was a sixth that hadn't been listed on the previous five books.

When the book arrived at the library and I picked it up, I was surprised to see that it looked like a fairly normal novel. "Oh, cool!" I thought, "It's a really long one like one of those books of manga." Then I opened it up.

It was a regular prose and picture Oz book, but by Eric Shanower.

I discovered later that this was part of a wave of new Oz fiction published by Books of Wonder. Peter Glassman approached many Oz fans about publishing new Oz books. Along with Eric Shanower were books by Eric Gjovaag and Karyl Carlson, Bill Campell and Irwin Terry, Donald Abbot, Robin Hess, David Hulan and others. I have yet to get all of these books.

The story of The Giant Garden of Oz finds Dorothy (accompanied by Toto and Billina) going to visit Aunt Em and Uncle Henry on a new farm they've moved to. It's not a farm just like the one back in Kansas, because while Aunt Em and Uncle Henry can work it and grow crops, they also have magical conveniences to help them do their work much more easily. Also, the animals on the farm can talk, making that part easier.
Things are going well on the farm, but the next morning, they discover that the vegetable garden out front has grown to an enormous size, preventing them from easily leaving the farm. Dorothy, Billina and Toto head out alone to get to the Emerald City for help.

What I found impressive is that most would have just had the garden get bigger, but Eric thinks it out logically: the vegetables have grown larger, so they're all squeezed together, a row of carrots even upsetting the house.

Journeying away from the farm, Toto and Billina mysteriously disappear, along with the basket containing Dorothy's food for the trip. Dorothy has to continue on alone. Along the way, she is joined by Imogene, a cow who gives different kinds of milk and other dairy products based on her moods. (A pretty exciting day yields whipped cream, for instance.) They soon run into the Wizard, who has taken up ballooning again.

I rather liked that theme that Uncle Henry and Aunt Em and the Wizard were picking up on their American occupations that they'd previously failed at. As Dorothy explains, "In a land where no one grows older and no one can ever die, I've got all the time in the world."

And yes, Imogene is based on Dorothy's pet cow that replaced Toto in the 1903 Wizard of Oz musical extravaganza. Shanower's Imogene is a very different character, however.

Dorothy, Imogene and the Wizard try to save Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, Billina, and Toto, but are beset by a storm and giant moles who pull Dorothy and Imogene underground for a rather spooky experience! And that's not even the biggest thing to happen! (Pun quite intended.)

As I said, Eric takes a very logical and reasonable approach to magic and how things in Oz work. Even though the story has been criticized for having a rather dark tone, at no point does it feel like Eric is being unfaithful to the world that Baum created. Oz, as Baum wrote it, can be a scary place, and Eric embraces it. The Oz characters feel like fully three-dimensional characters, particularly Dorothy, as Eric often tells us what she's thinking. All of this well-done storytelling has led to me actually calling it one of my favorite non-Famous Forty Oz books, a point even Eric has wondered at.


I bought my own copy of Giant Garden eventually and have read it a few times over the years, making sure not to enjoy it too often. I once began to read it in 2011, as I was heading to the Winkie Convention and had it with me for Eric to sign. I wound up not finishing it due to the other Oz books I'd picked up then, but he did autograph it for me!

 Books of Wonder no longer lists The Giant Garden of Oz on their website, so it is currently out of print. But it can be found for a reasonable price on many used book sites.

Shanowerthon! Eric in Oziana

After Shanower's Oziana debut in 1976, he didn't appear again in the magazine for six years. In Oziana 1983, he provided the front cover and illustrations for the final story. In 1984 and 85, he provided illustrations for one story each (including Fredrick Otto's fine story, Mombi's Pink Polkadot Vest), and also 85's cover.

It was in 1987 that another story by Eric (working on his Oz graphic novel series at the time) appeared in Oziana. Titled "The Two Peters," it features a little boy named Peter being read the end of Pirates in Oz as a bedtime story by his grandfather. The boy wonders if it's a coincidence that the boy in Pirates and himself are both named Peter, and he wonders how he came to have the name. Shanower doesn't say it, but I think that the grandfather might be Peter Brown himself. It's a very short and sweet story.

Eric continued contributing illustrations for stories in 1989, 1992, and 1994. He also contributed covers for 1990 and 1992.

The 1990 issue also contained a new Shanower story: "The Final Fate of the Frogman." In this story, Woot the Wanderer comes across the Truth Pond but is met by the Frogman who has shed his clothes and, retelling the story of his life since The Lost Princess of Oz, reveals that he now guards the Truth Pond so that others may not share his sad fate of being honest all the time. While it's a rather somber story, there is quite a bit of humor in it as well.

Shanower provided a partial story in 1993: "The Silver Jug." The story tells of a servant of Glinda's named Amanda who isn't the best at her job by a long shot. While Glinda is away, she tests Amanda by tasking her to care for a wax-sealed silver jug. If it is opened, it must be sealed again by the time Glinda returns.

The following year found two conclusions to the story being printed in Oziana: one by M.A. Berg and the other by Fredrick Otto. Both involved the jug being opened and Amanda having to get help to take care of the result.

In 2003, "The Final Fate of the Frogman" and "The Silver Jug" were among stories and poems by Shanower collected into the book The Salt Sorcerer of Oz and Other Stories. "Frogman" differed a little from its Oziana publication. In Oziana, the Frogman confronts the Wizard about how he lobotomized Jenny Jump in The Wonder City of Oz. In the collected edition, in regards to copyright, it has been changed to the Glass Cat's change of brains. (Oziana stories are allowed to use anything from the Famous Forty Oz books.)

"The Silver Jug" did not use either Oziana ending, but instead, Eric wrote his own ending. Amanda frees baby dragons from the Jug and they fly across the Deadly Desert, Amanda pursuing in Glinda's swan chariot. However, they are eaten by a much larger dragon and Amanda decides that she has to take the dragon back to Glinda so she can explain what happened. However, the dragon needs to save a friend of hers, and Amanda winds up being the surprising key to the dilemma. Although Berg and Otto's endings to "Jug" were fine, Eric's is excellent!

The Salt Sorcerer of Oz and Other Stories is still available from Hungry Tiger Press, and several issues of Oziana are available from the International Wizard of Oz Club. (If you can't find the issue you want there, check used book sellers' sites.)

For anyone wondering, "The Two Peters" was reprinted in the 2011 Winkie Convention program book as part of the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Pirates in Oz. If you want a copy, contact David Maxine to see if he still has any copies left.

Shanowerthon! The Adventure Of The Cat That Did Not Meow In The Night

Sometime back, I was looking at the Oz stories of Eric Shanower. I promised to look into his prose work, but decided to start with his first. His first Oz story was published in the 1976 issue of Oziana, which I owned, but I thought I'd read Oziana much as I did The Baum Bugle: one issue at a time. Well, it took me awhile to get into reading Oziana, but I finally did recently.

Shanower informs me that his story was very much rewritten by Oziana editor Jay Delkin. However, Delkin seems to have been a very supportive editor. Eric was only 13 at the time, you must remember.

Click any image to see a larger version.

Actually, I think it's pretty cool that Melody Grandy
illustrated this story.

The story itself is rather short, filling five pages, including Melody Grandy's nice illustrations. (They weren't as nice as her work in her Seven Blue Mountains of Oz trilogy, but we all start somewhere.) Ozma notices that Button-Bright has been missing for awhile and that supplies are missing. She calls the Great Detective (basically Sherlock Holmes in Oz, a recurring character in Oziana throughout the years), who deduces from the evidence (which includes a few lines about how Eureka must have seen what happened, but didn't meow, which seems like a stretch to get this Holmes-based title) where Button-Bright is.

As it turns out, Button-Bright has been sneaking supplies to a Nome who's been stationed underground in Oz since the march on Oz in The Emerald City of Oz. Ozma of course sets everything right. For sneaking around instead of telling Ozma the issue, Button-Bright is warned that if he gets up to any such future mischief, he'll have to play checkers with Tollydiggle. (They note that he's not good at checkers.)

The story's okay. I've read a couple other Great Detective stories in Oziana, and I rather dislike how there's basically a Sherlock Holmes clone in Oz rather than having a character like the Scarecrow, the Woggle-Bug, the Wizard or the Shaggy Man turn their mind to detective work. Ignoring that, this is an all right story, but I can see why Shanower has never been keen to revisit it.

The Forgotten Forest of Oz - Treasury Edition

And IDW releases The Forgotten Forest of Oz once more! Let's see... if we count all versions of Adventures of Oz as one printing, and then Little Adventures in Oz as another, this would be the third time.

From what it sounds like, they were reissuing graphic novels in an oversize "Treasury Edition" format. By oversize, I mean a little over 13 inches tall. That's a big book!

When Shanower was approached to have one of his Oz graphic novels reprinted in this format, he chose The Forgotten Forest of Oz, his favorite of his five graphic novels.

We've talked about Forgotten Forest before, in full spoilery detail, here. But for those who haven't read it before and don't want to be spoiled, but are interested, here's a shorter summary from my little review of the Little Adventures in Oz collections:

• Wood Nymph Nelanthe is banished from the Forest of Burzee for kissing a mortal man. The King of the Trolls befriends her and makes her his queen, and she helps him plan an attack on Burzee. However, she wishes she could just forget and has her giant bat Nightshade steal some of the Water of Oblivion. When Nightshade accidentally brings back Dorothy and Toto, can our friends from Oz (including the Scarecrow and the Sawhorse) escape to warn the Forest of Burzee in time?

 I really enjoy this one, though while Shanower may find it his favorite, I think The Ice King of Oz rivals it as my favorite of his five. But, no matter. The story is well-done with some excellently developed characters and the artwork is superb as ever.

Of course, the oversize format allows you to enjoy the details of Shanower's artwork even more than before, though the large size might make you think twice before you take it to read somewhere other than home. (Particularly if you have the Little Adventures in Oz books.)

As for additional material, all the pictures that appeared for the story in the now out of print Adventures in Oz collection are reproduced here and then some. The front cover is completely new to this edition, while on the back is the cover representing the story first used for Little Adventures in Oz Vol. 2. The original edition's front cover is reproduced right after the story, so all three covers the story has had are present. The inside front cover shows the Scarecrow on the Yellow Brick Road, while the inside back cover is a biography of Shanower and a couple photos.

There are more character designs and preliminary art not found in Adventures in Oz and Shanower wrote a completely new appendix to go along with it. Also, when we get to the original ending, there is a third page that was not included in the original version. I won't spoil what happens on it, but it does answer a question I had about the story, though I did consider it an insignificant detail.

Just about the only negative thing to say is that there's a picture of Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow and the Sawhorse by the Forbidden Fountain after the story, and the picture quality is extremely soft. This is most noticeable on the writing on the fountain. Not sure what happened there, but that's a really minor niggle.

Overall, it's a nice new edition. There are likely Oz fans who already have three versions (original, Adventures, and Little Adventures) and they might balk at buying the same story yet again. Part of what hooked me was the price of only $10. That and Hungry Tiger Press was offering a limited bookplate with it for the first 100 customers, so why not?

Here's mine. I'm a little proud of ordering early in the morning two weeks ago now. Plus, Eric Shanower sketched a knotty-looking Sawhorse in my copy for me.

Get your copy from Hungry Tiger Press.

Shanowerthon: The Blue Witch of Oz

After the excellent The Forgotten Forest of Oz, Shanower decided to take a break from the Oz graphic novels. Any writer who works on one thing for awhile often wants to get away from it. (Like Baum and Thompson...) But finally, he decided to come back and do a fifth, which would, like Forgotten Forest, mix some mature themes with classic Oz. Also, Shanower decided this would be the final graphic novel. He wanted to get away from Oz.

However, before First Comics could publish it, they ceased operations, but luckily, Dark Horse decided to pick up The Blue Witch of Oz, and published it in late 1992.

The story finds Dorothy and the Scarecrow visiting Glinda. Dorothy is wondering why, if there were Wicked Witches of the East, West, North (Mombi), South (Enchanted Apples), and Good Witches of the North, South, and West (Gloma from The Wishing Horse of Oz), why isn't there a Good Witch of the East? Glinda seems to recall something, and researches the Great Book of Records, where she discovers the unfortunate tale of Abatha, which she relates to Dorothy and the Scarecrow.

Abatha was a Munchkin girl who married an astronomer named Dash, and they had a son named Star. Dash had researched how to travel to the nearest star, and did so, promising to return in ten days, but when he did not, Abatha began to study his magic and became a Good Witch, hoping to one day either find or follow her husband. However, one day, Star was magically kidnapped by magic stronger than her own. She left to find her son, and was eventually advised to talk to Flinder, a magician who lived in the Great Gray Gillikin Swamp with his son Javen. Flinder was Dash's brother, so Abatha went to see him, but while she was there, she was sure she'd found Star when an enchantment was placed on them.

Well, we know what Dorothy does when she hears a story like this, time for an adventure! She and the Scarecrow head to the Great Gray Gillikin Swamp, where their way to Flinder's castle is impeded by moving islands, flamingo-like birds that look like bushes, and alligator logs. In the swamp, they meet the Glass Cat, who leads them to a ruined castle that restores each night. Inside, they find Abatha confronting Flinder, but they seem completely oblivious to Dorothy and her two companions. The two magicians are interrupted by Javen, who Abatha thinks is Star, especially when she sees a star-shaped scar on his face. Suspicious of Flinder, Abatha prepares to cast a spell on him, while Flinder tells her stop, casting a spell himself. Suddenly, the three people freeze and the castle turns into ruins again.

The next morning Dorothy and the Scarecrow discover that the same thing happens every night from a bush-bird. Dorothy finally realizes that Flinder and Abatha's spells combined, making them repeat that night over and over, and then stopping. The Scarecrow suggests that maybe they could turn the magicians away from each other, since they're oblivious to any observers. That night, they find they cannot budge them, but the Glass Cat jumps in between the spells at the right time, making them deflect from each other, breaking the enchantment.

Surprised at their present state, Abatha and Flinder continue their argument, until Dorothy tells them to stop and mentions Glinda. Flinder grabs Javen and runs, creating a magic vine to escape over the alligator logs with, but trying to battle Abatha, Javen falls into the water. Abatha rescues him with a magic thread, and Flinder returns, confessing tearfully that Javen is, in fact, Star.

Flinder reveals that he and Javen were going to go to the nearest star the same night Dash left, but something went wrong and only Javen was taken. However, despite this revelation, Star still sees Flinder as his father. Flinder rejects him, but Dorothy convinces them to go with her to the Emerald City where Ozma can settle the matter.

Ozma assures Flinder and Abatha that she will do all she can to find Javen and Dash, and will allow Abatha to practice magic as a Good Witch. Flinder will become the royal wainwright for the Red Wagon. As for Star, she leaves the decision of who he will go with to him. Star chooses Flinder, because he has been a father to him for many years. However, he says he will visit Abatha sometimes, and recognizes her as his mother.

Once again, the story had a revised ending. Originally (and yes, this can be seen in the hardcover edition of Adventures in Oz, you should have bought a copy when it was still in print!) Star decides to go with Abatha, but really, this feels a bit too much like a standard happy ending. And as the ending Shanower went with shows, it doesn't make sense considering that Flinder raised Star as his own son. The final version's ending isn't the entirely happy one we're used to in Oz, but it does make sense character-wise, and brings up the question of child custody. Perhaps the ending isn't entirely Ozzy, but it definitely is good.

The story leaves a big loose end with the unknown fates of Javen and Dash. Glinda says she can find no record of them, suggesting they may still be traveling, which makes some sense considering what we know about space travel. I once had the idea that maybe the two would meet on the star they were heading to and Dash would mistake Javen for Star, but that seems a bit repetitious to me now. Maybe someday Shanower might resolve it, or maybe not. Personally, I think having it open isn't a fault, just a tantalizing mystery.

Now, while Shanower had planned to get out of Oz, it didn't happen. History has proven that if you write or illustrate Oz stories that people love, you're in it for life. (Baum, Thompson, Neill and Snow are prime examples.) It's not that Shanower didn't go on to do other things, he did, but he has still turned out a lot of Oz output since the five graphic novels, and even before and while they were running. And yes, we'll continue looking at more of his Oz stories.

Shanowerthon! The Forgotten Forest of Oz

Like The Ice King of Oz, The Forgotten Forest of Oz had seen a previous version before becoming Shanower's 1988 Oz graphic novel. "The Story of Nebelle" was a comics story he had begun in art school, however, it was never finished. The version included in the hardcover Adventures in Oz collection consists of four pages of pencil art and rough sketches of the last two pages, with no dialogue or narration within.

"The Story of Nebelle" finds the Queen of Fairyland banishing the fairy Nebelle for kissing a mortal man. She flees and marries Chungash, King of the Demons and Lord of the Underworld, who reveals he was the mortal man disguised. Seeking revenge against the fairies, Nebelle helps the Demons plan an attack on the fairies. Nebelle is among the first sneak attack on the fairies, but she changes her mind and regrets her anger when she sees a fairy baby. She kills a Demon about to attack the baby. Chungash, seeing this, kills Nebelle, whose dying words warn her fairy sister Nelanth about the Demons.

As it turned out, the titular forest of The Forgotten Forest of Oz would not be actually in Oz. Shanower quickly changed the Queen of Fairyland to the Queen on the Wood Nymphs, Zurline, from The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. The offending fairy Nebelle was changed to the Wood Nymph Nelanthe (however, another nymph that has pity on Nelanthe is named Nebelle). However, as Nelanthe leaves Burzee as a mortal, the story quickly expands from what was in "The Story of Nebelle."

Nelanthe is found by the King of the Trolls, who takes pity on her and offers to make her his queen. She accepts and soon decides to make war on the other wood-nymphs. However, when the night of the attack draws near, she realizes she misses the forest, but her memories also remind of her of why she wants revenge. She finally decides she just wants to forget everything and start fresh. Then, she finds an entry about the Water of Oblivion in a book. (Coincidental? Maybe, but after reading Thompson and Neill, this is so far from a stretch of the imagination.)

Now, where is Oz? Well, Chapter Two takes us there. Dorothy is awakened by Toto and they go out on the balcony to investigate something Toto can hear. Toto accidentally slides off the balcony but Dorothy sees a giant bat fly up and Toto is holding onto its collar with his teeth. Dorothy tries to grab him, but they both get carried away.

The Scarecrow is riding to the Emerald City on the Sawhorse, and they spot Dorothy and Toto being carried away by the bat and they follow, even when it flies over the desert. (The Sawhorse reasons that neither of them are made of flesh, nor do they need to breathe.)

Nelanthe receives the water, but discovering Dorothy and Toto, she makes them her guests, since if they are harmed, Ozma will surely find out and do something to avenge them. She decides to have them returned the next day. When Dorothy realizes what Nelanthe had Nightshade (her bat) do, she stops her from drinking the water right away, and Nelanthe is forced to go prepare for battle without drinking.

Meanwhile, the Scarecrow and Sawhorse have sneaked into the Troll King's castle and they find Dorothy and Toto and help them escape, Dorothy taking the Water with her.

The Trolls are calling the Dragons, their long-time enemies, to help them destroy Burzee. The Dragons accept, but a Troll runs in and tells Nelanthe and the Troll King of Dorothy's escape. Hearing that there are now people from Oz involved, the King is furious and tells Nelanthe that this is what he'd been planning all along: he was the "mortal" man Nelanthe had kissed. Nelanthe runs to her room to get the Water, intending to get on Nightshade and fly away somewhere, to drink the Water and begin fresh again. But the Water is gone, so she has Nightshade fly after the Sawhorse, who is heading to Burzee.

The Scarecrow and Toto fall off the Sawhorse, so Dorothy goes on alone to Burzee. She reaches it, but Nightshade crashes into a tree. Nelanthe, realizing the Troll King is to blame for her unhappiness, decides that she must stop the attack herself. She tries to convince the Dragons that the Troll King has led them into a trap, and they are convinced when the Wood-Nymphs, alerted by Dorothy, arrive on the scene. The Dragons turn on the Trolls and all scurry back to their underground homes.

Nelanthe swoops in and takes the water from Dorothy, but the Wood-Nymphs make the trees catch Nightshade and Nelanthe falls to the ground, hard. She is hurt badly and will die if nothing is done. Zurline feels she cannot break the laws of the Forest, as she has no idea that Nelanthe has repented of her hatred of the Forest, nor of the Troll King's plot. However, the Scarecrow arrives with Toto and reveals that Nelanthe did turn the Trolls and Dragons back.

Dorothy realizes that Nelanthe has nothing left but the Water, and feeling sympathy of the former Nymph and Queen, offers her the water, but it is rejected. All Nelanthe wants is the Forest. Deciding that she cannot allow Nelanthe to die, Zurline restores her immortality, making her a Wood-Nymph again as dawn breaks over Burzee.

(How Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Toto, and the Sawhorse return home is anyone's guess. Let's just assume the Wood-Nymphs or the Fairies of Burzee worked with Ozma to get them back home.)

This was actually not Shanower's original ending. In the hardcover edition of Adventures in Oz, rough sketches for the last two pages (that would have replaced the last three, actually) reveal an ending in which Nelanthe accepts the Water, her empty mind allowing her to be essentially reprogrammed by the Wood-Nymphs. Shanower decided he didn't like the ending after all and re-wrote it. I agree, it would be an ending suggesting that happiness can be found in a substance. The revised ending makes Zurline and Nelanthe much stronger characters.

And overall, the characters are quite strong and many Baum-influenced ideas make it into the story: the Dragons and Trolls hate each other, so at the first sign of trouble, they turn on each other. Yet again, Shanower keeps the classic characters in line: even Dorothy's eventual offering the Water to Nelanthe works with her caring and considerate manner.

The artwork is once again amazing, though, in my opinion, Shanower's Wood-Nymphs resemble Fredrick Richardson's Fairies of Burzee in Queen Zixi of Ix, one of Baum's non-Oz fantasies. It might be a niggle of mine, since I consider them to completely separate beings. Of course, Mary Cowles Clark's illustrations for Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus showed the Wood-Nymphs as looking quite similar, so maybe they do look alike after all, and there is little difference aside from their assigned duties.

So, once again, Shanower turned out another wonderful story, even though there wasn't a lot of Oz proper in it. However, back when I started this, I said he only did five graphic novels. Why that is, we'll find out next time.

Shanowerthon! The Ice King of Oz

Shanower's third Oz graphic novel, The Ice King of Oz, was a culmination of many story ideas he'd had for an Ice King story over the years. Sometimes a story has to be written a few times to work out everything, but Ice King wasn't that simple.

Shanower had conceived the story as an Oz story, but rewrote it without Oz for his high school's literary magazine. He later re-developed it as a huge Oz story, but was not able to write it out due to school. Later, he returned to the story for an assignment at the Kubert School to create a cover and first page for a children's book, now without Oz elements again. (You can see it in the Adventures in Oz hardcover edition.) When he was planning the third graphic novel, he turned to the story once again.

So, yes, it was an Oz story, then it wasn't, then it was, then it wasn't, then it was.

The Ice King of Oz was the first of Shanower's works I ever saw. My father found it at the library and showed it to me. I didn't take much interest, being interested mainly in Baum's books at the time, until he opened it and showed me it was a COMIC. I wondered if there were any more, and yes, they also had Secret Island. (Told you they had a lot of copies of that one. Not now, though. I checked.)

Ozma receives a request from the Ice King to send a delegation to ensure peace between their countries. The Ice King is a powerful magician, so Ozma decides a peaceful connection would be wise and accepts the offer. Everyone in the palace works hard to greet the visitors (a seldom seen event, but Shanower writes and draws it brilliantly, I LOVE Jellia's exasperated look), and their effors pay off when the delegation arrives.

The Ice Imps (people who appear to be made of ice) from the Ice King's domain present two gifts. The first is an ice statue of Ozma, which bears an enchantment to prevent it from melting. The second is an engagement ring... for Dorothy! Dorothy rejects the offer, as she is very young and doesn't even know the Ice King. Ozma seems to agree by suggesting it should be discussed after they have established stronger connections with the Ice King.

The next day, Dorothy, the Tin Woodman, Billina, and Glinda meet by the Sawhorse and the Red Wagon, and note Ozma's absence. Jellia arrives and says she couldn't find Ozma in the palace. The Scarecrow arrives and says he played cards with the Imps in their suite the previous night but left his hat. When he returned, the Imps had gone.

Glinda takes them to the Magic Picture, which shows Ozma asleep in a block of ice carried by Ice Imps in the Ice King's domain. Glinda calls a council for the evening while she and the Wizard plan a way to rescue Ozma. At the council, she announces that Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman are best suited for the task and will leave for the Ice King's domain in the morning.

As everyone leaves, Jellia extinguishes the candles, but one begins to moan and change shape. Jellia reveals she took it from the Wizard's workshop. The Wizard says the candle had belonged to the Wicked Witch of the West. Just then, the candle finishes its transformation into a short man made of red wax with flames for hair. He introduces himself as Flicker, the Candle-Maker, and explains that when he defied the Wicked Witch, she turned him into a candle. Apparently, because he was a candle for so long (going by the dating, it would have been at least 87 years), the transformation hasn't completely worn off, so he's still wax and flame. He decides to join Dorothy's quest.

The next day, Glinda prepares a magic unicorn-headed flying device for the party to ride to the Ice King's domain in. It's a long journey, but when they reach it, the flyer shatters against a magic barrier, leaving our friends scrambling to get back on solid ground. Later, they are warned to get away by a seal, who tells them not to go to the Ice King.

Dorothy notes that Flicker is shrinking. Just as a candle gets smaller as it burns, so is Flicker. Dorothy hopes they can find Ozma and get back to Oz so Glinda can help Flicker.

As they journey on, the weather gets worse and a blizzard whips up. The Scarecrow finds an entrance to a fissure in the ice, where they find an outcropping looking into the Ice King's throne room, filled with Ice Imps around the Ice King's throne, which he shares with an icy Ozma. The outcropping gives way, sending them down to the Ice King's throne.

Ozma rejects her old friends: she's been enchanted. The Ice King refuses to give up Ozma, and when Dorothy and her friends refuse to leave without Ozma, he orders the Imps to leave. He attempts to destroy them by dropping huge icicles on them, which the Tin Woodman can break, but they pin down the Scarecrow.

The Ice King makes it colder, which freezes the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman, and then he cracks the ice floor to reveal water, where Dorothy nearly drowns, but manages to hold onto the throne's base, remaining defiant. Flicker jumps across ice to the throne, where he flares his hair up in an attempt to melt the Ice King. It doesn't work and Flicker melts to about six inches tall.

However, Flicker's sacrifice and heat did thaw the Ice King's heart, and he realizes his wrongdoing. He re-freezes the floor, and thaws the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman and frees Ozma from his spell (and apparently removes the water from Dorothy's clothes). He decides he will attempt to be a better, kinder King, and uses his magic to return our friends to Oz.

Back in Oz, Glinda manages to prevent Flicker from shrinking further, coming at the cost of making his hair flare up anymore. Dorothy tells him that she likes him just as he is, so he makes up his mind to be content. Both Ozma and Dorothy hope that the good they did for the Ice King remains.

The Ice King of Oz is a great little Oz story. The plot is clear and easy to follow and also exciting. The Ice King's fate is appropriately Ozzy, and Flicker is a great character.

The coloring in Ice King shows a shift in what the publisher was now capable of. In the previous graphic novels, colors were largely solid areas. Now Shanower could create delicate color details that the reader could see replicated. (The Adventures in Oz collection did an even better job of this.)

This is definitely one of Shanower's best! If you don't own it, you're doing yourself a disservice.

Shanowerthon: The Secret Island of Oz

The world didn't have to wait long for Shanower's next graphic novel venture into Oz! The Secret Island of Oz appeared in October 1986. And this time, Shanower decided to turn to the "quest" type Oz story. After all, similar stories had been done in family-friendly comics before. Take the Uncle Scrooge comics of Carl Barks, for example.

My local library seemed to have many copies of Secret Island, because I seemed to keep finding it in any library that had any of Shanower's graphic novels. One time I had it checked out, but someone literally stole it from our van when I had asked my father to return it on his next visit. We found out who it was and they returned it, since it was a library book, with a page missing and badly taped back together. The library couldn't put it back in circulation, so we got billed for it. (THEY paid for it, though.) And that is how I got my copy of the original. ... Maybe I should replace it.

So, the story opens with the Scarecrow and Dorothy finding the royal gardener crying that he doesn't have a crimson-tailed Quipperug in the royal fish pond. Dorothy decides they'll set off to find one, since she's to be aching to have an adventure. The Cowardly Lion decides to join them when they tell Ozma about it. The Wizard sees it as a chance to have his new Travelling Emergency Magic Kit go on a field test.

Arriving south in the Quadling Forest, Dorothy and company hear that the Quipperug is not only rare but elusive as well, even to other fish. Dorothy also discovers that Eureka has followed them from the Emerald City, looking to get some fresh fish.

A giant bubblefish offers to take the travelers underwater to look for the Quipperug by blowing a bubble around them and carrying them in it. They look around in the pond, which is right by the Mysterious Mountain which occasionally makes strange noises. Under the pond (which is much larger underneath, they see a whirlpool. The bubblefish tries to swim past, but the bubble flies out of its mouth. Dorothy opens the Wizard's kit to find something to help them, but the bubble pops and everyone is caught in the whirlpool.

Dorothy is awakened by Eureka. They are on an island inside the whirlpool, which runs up the inside of the Mysterious Mountain. Dorothy finds a packet from the Wizard's kit: the Powder of Intangibility. She also still has the Magic Wayfinder that was pointing them to the Quipperug, but now she asks it to show her how to find the Scarecrow and Lion.

Along the way, they find a princess named Trinkarinkarina scolding a mechanical (wooden?) boy named Knotboy before storming off. Dorothy and Eureka approach Knotboy, who offers to take them to the king for help leaving the island. However, Dorothy wants to find her friends first.

Knotboy explains that he was made as a companion for Princess Trin (what he calls her for short) when she was a little girl. Now she's a teenager and instead of treating Knotboy as a treasured friend, she ignores him as an obsolete childhood toy. Knotboy says he's all right with this, as long as Trin is happy.

Trin sees Dorothy with Knotboy and, being suspicious, follows quietly as Dorothy follows the Wayfinder to small circular fortress that's been locked. However, the Powder of Intangibility enables them to enter, and inside they find a mound that leads underground. Trin enters and tells Knotboy to come with her. Dorothy and Eureka head into the mound, bringing along Knotboy and Trin follows.

Eureka discovers a tiny pool of water underground. Trin arrives and begins scolding Knotboy. Dorothy argues with her that she should treat her old friend better, but Trin scorns her and accidentally knocks Knotboy into the pool. He discovers it's not water but a thin barrier of a water-like substance that, when passed through, lets you enter an underground where gravity has turned upside down. All pass through, the Wayfinder showing them to a tunnel where something squishy blocks their way.

The Scarecrow and Lion are in an underground where they discover more packets from the kit: Exploding Powder (which falls into the water the Lion drinks, making tiny explosions happen inside of him), a seven-course breakfast (the Lion notes it will come in handy), and Shrinking Powder.

As they explore the cavern, the Scarecrow and Lion meet a giant toad and snake who are certainly intent on eating them, but offer them a sporting chance: if they win three challenges in a contest, they may go. While the snake beats the Lion at racing (by cheating), some Exploding Powder wins the rock-crushing contest. The toad announces that the final challenge is a wrestling match, but he feels something poking him from the mound he's seated on: Knotboy.

The toad jumps away and the two parties are united, but the snake knocks the Scarecrow apart as he prepares to use Shrinking Powder. The Lion pounces on the snake while Dorothy sees the Shrinking Powder and uses it on the snake, allowing the Lion to win the final challenge, thus winning the contest. Not that the toad minds, he's set on eating Trin! Knotboy goes off after him, and manages to tie his tongue around a giant mushroom, freeing Trin.

Everyone hurries to the mound, Knotboy gathering up the Scarecrow, but the Shrinking Powder shrunk the mound, making Dorothy use the Powder of Intangibility again to let them pass just before the toad can pounce on them.

After Dorothy reassembles the Scarecrow, Trin says she's grateful for Knotboy rescuing her, but when he asks if they can be friends again, she breaks down into tears and apologizes to him.

The travelers return to the fortress, where the King and his soldiers await. Trin tells him that Dorothy and her friends are their friends and that Knotboy saved her. The Scarecrow then puts forward a plan for them to escape the mountain: have them ride a boat up the whirlpool and then jump out to the ridge above on the Mysterious Mountain.

This plan is set into motion the next day, and it works. (Remember kids, this can only happen in Oz.) As they head back to the Emerald City, they find a pond and the Quipperug, who graciously rejects the offer to go to the Royal Fish Pond, he's happy where he is.

Shanower has made it no secret that this is his least favorite of the Oz graphic novels, criticizing that the plot didn't really gel and that he didn't do his best at drawing Dorothy this time around.

I suppose he does have a point in that we wander away from the quest for the Quipperug for most of the story, and then the rest is about Dorothy and Eureka reuniting with the Scarecrow and Lion. The only thing is that, storytelling-wise, the strength of what plot is left is found in the story of the strained relationship between Trin and Knotboy, which is actually pretty good. Depending on how deeply you want to read into it, this brings up the issue of what level of respect would manufactured people in Oz deserve, as well as not forsaking your childhood friends. When you grow up, you put away childish actions, not your friends. Trin didn't realize it at first, but her putting Knotboy beneath her because she was a princess is very childish. And when she needed to be rescued, it was Knotboy who saved her. She comes to realize that treating everyone with respect, especially her friends, is part of her duties as a princess.

Shanower also mentioned clarity issues. I suppose I see what he means. For a long time I thought the second time we see Trin in the story, she's going to get him, but no, she's still walking home from the first time we saw her, but she must be a slow walker if Dorothy and Knotboy got ahead of her so easily.

I suppose Knotboy is wood, although he appears to be a solid color with no wood grain detail, but perhaps he is varnished and would appear to be a solid color. Still, he seems to be mechanical somehow, especially since he seems to have an opening panel on his back.

I've never been extremely critical about details in artwork, but I didn't think Dorothy was very "ugly" in the original version, but looking it over and trying to be critical, Shanower definitely had done better in The Enchanted Apples of Oz and would do better in his later work. (He did some minor touch-ups to Dorothy in the Adventures in Oz collection.) I can't really complain about the rest of the art, though.

I suppose some of the best writers and artists may be their own worst critics. Believe me, sometimes I go back over old blogs or my published work and spot errors or things I wish I'd done better on, so even though I might not be as critical of Shanower's work as he is himself, I can understand it.

Overall, The Secret Island of Oz may not be Shanower's best, but it's far from bad!

Shanowerthon! The Enchanted Apples of Oz

Well, the final illustrator of the FF+ who also wrote Oz stories is Eric Shanower. (Wait, what about Rob Roy MacVeigh? Did he write Oz stories? ... The Oz Project says "No." ... Wait, he did do a short story in Oziana 1989! I own that! ... We'll get to that soon.)

Shanower also has the distinction of being the only illustrator who's worked on the original illustrations for FF+ books who is still very much alive. (At least he looked like it when I met him at the Winkie Convention earlier this month.) But he is also the only one who wrote and illustrated Oz stories before his FF+ work.

Shanower is a cartoonist by trade, and studied at The Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art, and has done many freelance projects for comic publishers. Even when it's not Oz, his drawings of lifelike people are simply amazing.

Shanower's first published Oz work was actually in the 1976 Oziana, and, he notes, heavily rewritten by the  editor. I don't have Oziana 1976 on hand, though... At any rate, his first big Oz publication was The Enchanted Apples of Oz in 1986. It had begun as an idea for an Oz-based comic book series for First Comics, and the original draft featured Trot and Cap'n Bill. However, at the time, Trot and Cap'n Bill's appearances were still protected by copyright. And anyway, Rick Oliver, editor at First Comics, wanted to do graphic novels instead.

Thus, a little series of five Oz graphic novels began, each one featuring Dorothy and the Scarecrow as lead characters. Throughout these graphic novels, and indeed, all of Shanower's Oz art done in his regular style, he used John R. Neill's designs first, and W.W. Denslow's if he had drawn a character Shanower was using that Neill hadn't drawn. Simply, when you take Neill's designs and Shanower's art style, it's an amazing piece of art. Oz fans have called Shanower's work the best since John R. Neill, that it's as good, or even suggesting it surpasses Neill. Shanower commented on this praise:

That's a very flattering statement, but I'm not sure it's actually the case. Neill, of course, is the man. He had a much better facility for illustration than I do. He ignored the rules of perspective quite often, and it's pretty obvious he got somewhat bored with Oz after a few books, but when he was doing his best work, Oz or otherwise, he was glorious. So being compared with Neill is very nice and a little uncomfortable for me.

On the other hand though, with Enchanted Apples, Shanower proved he could spin a tale. Now, keep in mind that this is the comics medium, Shanower's stories are more straightforward than some Oz books. He rarely had alternating plots like many Oz books, and didn't make use of the side-misadventures that help lengthen the page count of so many books.

I was very young when I first saw one of Shanower's graphic novels. It wasn't this one, but although I saw it listed on the back, I never tried to see if the library had it too, because I just found the library's catalog too daunting. Shortly after, my Oz collection was discarded and I lost interest, but when I got back into Oz a number of years later, I read all of Shanower's work the library had right alongside L. Frank Baum's Oz books. I didn't seek out to buy all the individual graphic novels, as when I started to build my collection, a collection of Shanower's graphic novels called Adventures in Oz had been announced. (More on that later.) However, thanks to PaperBackSwap.com, I do have the original version as well.

And now let's look at the story...

Dorothy, the Scarecrow and Billina are walking along the Yellow Brick Road, when suddenly a castle appears before them. They approach it and find it is the home of Valynn, a woman who tends the Enchanted Apple Tree of Oz. The Enchanted Apples must remain on the tree for Oz to maintain its magic. Up until now, she has been in Limbo for many years, because a man named Bortag threatened to steal the apples. Finally tiring of the loneliness of Limbo, she decided that Bortag is probably no longer a threat and returned to Oz.

Dorothy decides she and Valynn will go to the Emerald City to tell Ozma of Valynn's plight, and the Scarecrow and Billina are left to watch the tree. Unfortunately, while they are gone, Bortag arrives on a flying swordfish named Drox and steals several apples, along with Billina. (She was attempting to scare him away, but he threw her in a sack and let other apples hit her.)

In the Emerald City, Ozma, Valynn, and Dorothy check the Magic Picture to see the Enchanted Apple Tree. Valynn is horrified to see what has happened, and they watch Bortag fly far to the south of Oz, where he uses an apple to awaken the Wicked Witch of the South!

This is not Singra, the Wicked Witch of Rachel Cosgrove Payes' The Wicked Witch of Oz (which Shanower would illustrate later), but Shanower himself offered an explanation to there being two Wicked Witches of the South in an article in the Winter 2001 Baum Bugle.

Which one can rightfully claim the title of the Wicked Witch of the South?

My answer is simple: they both can. My idea is that they are sisters who practice the same occupation but who have hated each other for many years—along the lines of Ann Landers and Abby Van Buren. These two witches are rivals, each claiming to be the Wicked Witch of the South and hating each other so much that each denies the existence of the other.

The Wicked Witch heads right to the Enchanted Apple Tree, and using the Magic Belt, Ozma, Dorothy, and Valynn head back to the castle themselves.

Bortag begins to walk sullenly to the Deadly Desert, while Billina begins to scold him for letting the Witch go. She convinces Drox and Bortag to go back to the Enchanted Apple Tree to try to stop the Witch, while Bortag explains why he freed her. He's from a town called Glun where everyone is ugly, but he wasn't ugly enough to be accepted into their society, so he tried to learn magic to get revenge, but all his spells somehow resulted in the creation of a potato. (At least he didn't have to go hungry!) Finally, he gave up and went to the Deadly Desert to commit suicide by walking into it.

Near the Desert's edge, he found a hut where the Wicked Witch was in an enchanted sleep. Noting her ugliness, he thought she might prove a kindred spirit. This is what made him decide to get at least one Enchanted Apple to waken her with. So he sneaked into Valynn's palace, but she managed to catch him before he could pick one. After making false threats at Valynn, she goes to Limbo. Still, Bortag vowed that he would someday get an Enchanted Apple.

One day, Drox landed outside the hut, almost dried to death after having flown over the Deady Desert. Bortag nurses Drox back to health, and Drox says that without ocean water, he'll never be strong enough to return to the Nonestic Ocean.

After Bortag finishes his story, Billina suddenly can't speak anymore, and Bortag realizes that thanks to him, Oz really is losing its magic.

At Valynn's castle, Ozma, Dorothy, and Valynn arrive and hurry to the garden, where the Witch compels the Scarecrow to take the Magic Belt from Dorothy and give it to her. (The Belt, Ozma explained, is not affected by Oz magic, since it isn't from Oz.) As the Witch begins to pick a silver apple that ensures Valynn's guardianship of the tree, Valynn starts at her, but the Witch turns her into a statue. Ozma is soon turned into marble and Dorothy into wood.

Bortag arrives and has Drox hook the Magic Belt with his sword-like nose. While this gets the belt off the Witch, it carries her by her feet. The Witch turns Drox into a gray cloud, and she, Bortag, and the Magic Belt fall to earth on top of the Scarecrow, who just came out of his trance. Bortag manages to put on the Belt and turns the Witch into stone. He then uses the Belt to restore Drox, the Scarecrow, Ozma, Valynn, and Dorothy, but then leaves on Drox with the Belt.

Back in the Emerald City, things aren't going well. The Magic of Oz is still weakening, even with some of the apples on the tree. Suddenly, the Scarecrow loses his life and falls over. Just then, Omby Amby announces Bortag and Drox. Bortag is returning the Belt. He took it because he thought it could give him what he wanted, but all he wanted was a true friend, and that's what he already has in Drox.

Ozma uses the Magic Belt to return to Valynn and then uses it to restore the Apple Tree to how it was before Bortag stole the apples. This restores the Magic of Oz full force, and the Scarecrow and Billina instantly recover. Then, Ozma creates a barrier around the tree so that no one except Valynn may touch it. Finally, Ozma grants Bortag's request: to send Drox and himself to a home by the Nonestic Ocean.

As I said, the plot is very straightforward and not very long. Since the graphic novel was still an exciting new format for comics, Shanower didn't try to start up a story arc that would continue through other volumes. For the format, it works quite well. Shanower stays very true to Baum's characters and manages to develop  Valynn, Bortag and Drox very well. I just wish we could have found out more about that Wicked Witch.

Some people don't like the idea that the Magic of Oz is dependent on the safety of an apple tree. I suppose I'm all right with it. I guess it does bring to mind the story of Adam and Eve from the Bible, in which the first man and woman are told they may eat from any tree but one, and the forbidden fruit has since been depicted as an apple. Some Oz fans might not like the Biblical parallel, others might, and some just might not care. It's also worth noting that apples play a big role in mythology as well. If one wants to view Oz as a mythology, then Shanower's apples are not a far cry.

One thing you might notice in Shanower's stories are themes. Here, Ozma spells out one of them to Bortag at the end: "It doesn't matter how the world sees you—it's who you are inside that counts." As readers, we detest Bortag at the beginning, because we think he's the bad guy. Then, we feel sympathy for him when he explains his story. And finally, in his showdown with the Witch, we cheer him on! Another theme, also spelled out at the end by Ozma, is the recurring Ozian theme of contentedness: "I do know that when one's heart is content, true happiness is never far away."

Something I wasn't aware of was the dating of the story. In The Baum Bugle's review of Adventures in Oz, it says that Enchanted Apples occurs during the "several very happy weeks" Dorothy spends in Oz at the end of Ozma of Oz. However, in the revised version of Enchanted Apples in Adventures, that can no longer be the case.

"Revised?" Yes. Rather than do a straight reprint, IDW comics had Shanower on board for their new edition and he oversaw how the art would look in the new collected edition, sometimes changing it to how he wanted it to look, and sometimes revising the art. Thanks to advances in printing technology, the colors are much richer and vibrant in Adventures, while the original edition's colors look a bit faded, sometimes dark (this is most notable in skin tones). Comparing the art, there aren't major differences save one, which we'll show below.

Copyright Eric Shanower

Copyright Eric Shanower

In the original version, Omby Amby's beard is absent, while in Adventures, it's back. Small detail it may be, it actually changes the dating of the story. In The Marvelous Land of Oz, Omby Amby, going as the Soldier with the Green Whiskers, says, "I shall disguise myself by cutting off my lovely green whiskers." In Ozma of Oz, he has been given the position of private in Ozma's army and does not have his whiskers. At the end of the book, he is promoted. In Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, this exchange occurs:

"And the people will not willingly part with her," added a tall soldier in a Captain-General's uniform.


The Wizard turned to look at him.


"Did you not wear green whiskers at one time?" he asked.


"Yes," said the soldier; "but I shaved them off long ago, and since then I have risen from a private to be the Chief General of the Royal Armies."

Omby Amby's whiskers have not grown back until The Patchwork Girl of Oz, meaning the revised version of Enchanted Apples must take place shortly before or after the events of that book.

I wondered at this change and thought about asking Shanower about it at Winkies, but then a thought struck me: not all of Baum's Oz books were public domain in 1986. That accounts for the odd placement. I suppose Shanower didn't want to do that at first, and that is why he restored Omby Amby's beard in the revision.

The Enchanted Apples of Oz was received warmly by Oz fans, and First Comics, the publishers, would go on to print three more of Shanower's Oz graphic novels.

Buy The Enchanted Apples of Oz (original edition)
Buy Adventures in Oz (hardcover)
Buy Adventures in Oz (paperback)
Buy Little Adventures in Oz Vol. 1 (reduced size reprint)

Sam prepared other comparison pictures to show the differences between the original edition of The Enchanted Apples of Oz and the revised version in Adventures in Oz. All images are copyright of Eric Shanower and are used only for the purpose of review.